Right reading through this with unsleepy eyes i can see a way forward for you.
1. Unplug the ethernet cable.
2. Unplug the usb cable to the modem if attached and walk to the back door and throw it out (lets not be using it)
3. unplug the power from your cable modem.
4. Press in the little reset button on the router and hold in for 10 secs.
5. After allowing the router to reset plug the ethernet cable from the router (not the WAN port) to the pc (there will be only one rg45) (as in pic)
6. go to
http://192.168.2.1 select cable or dsl modem, leave the host name and mac blank and hit finish. Got to the wireless tab on the menu and then to channel and SSID. In the network name filed type in a name that identifies it to you (ie. bobs wireless), make sure enable SSID broadcast is set for now as well.
7. Unplug the ethernet cable from the pc and router.
8. Plug the ethernet cable into the WAN port on the router and then into the ethernet port on the ntl modem then re attach the power to the ntl modem (see pic)
9. Go to the laptop and make sure that wireless is on.
10. Press start go to my network places and from the left hand side select 'view network connections'
11. As per the picture below select ' view available wireless networks'
12. Look for one with the same name as yours and double click it.
13. You should now be connected.
14. If you need to connect a pb via a wire then you'll need a ethernet cable from the router to the PC.
15. Any questions then please feel free to pm or post here.
Mark